The Dragon and the Lilly
by All-For-You-Sophia
Summary: Draco Malfoy returns for his third year at Hogwarts and finds unexpected love and injuries.


**Disclaimer: I don't own the anything Harry Potter related. Enjoy.**

Draco smirked to himself as he stood on Platform 9 ¾. He was more than ready for his third year at Hogwarts. Over the summer Sirius Black had escaped from Azkaban and he was already itching to pour this new salt into Potters wounds.

His mother was cooing over him telling him how much she would miss him, loved him, and intended to write to him. She was also telling him to be good and do well in his classes and blah blah blah… he had stopped listening to her and began to scan the crowded platform for people he knew.

There was Blaise being smothered by his mother and Crabbe's parents had already said their good-byes. A flash of orange caught his eye and he wished he hadn't looked to see the youngest of the Weasley family dash to meet up with the rest of her ginger traitor family. He shook himself in disgust and turned back to his mother just in time to hear her say, "and be safe. I will write you as soon as possible." As soon as she had stopped talking she lunged at him taking him into an overly large embrace and kissed his forehead.

"Mum! Getteroffme! I'm not eight!" He bellowed into his mothers shoulder.

She released him and whiped at her eyes as his father patted him on the shoulder roughly and simply said, "have a good semester."

"Good-bye mum, dad." He said as he took a hold of his luggage cart and began to walk away. He heard his mother call after him quite a few good-byes that he pretended he did not hear.

He hoisted his luggage onto the train and went to find an empty cabin. Some of his friends might have already secured a cabin but he was the leader and more important therefore they should find him.

He found an empty cabin in the middle of the train and deposited himself thus and waited. Before the train had even left the station most of his gang had found him. Soon he was regaling them with stories of his summer and discussing how in the world Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban. Goyle was under the impression Black apparited out. Draco reminded him of how incredibly thick he was. He thought he had help from the outside and some ex-death eaters disguised themselves and broke in.

Blaise thought he was being daft and was of the opinion Black confounded the Death Eaters with pure mind power. He was about to retort when Pansy took hold of his arm and began defending his argument. He smiled to himself and leaned back and relaxed.

"Don't be stupid Pansy, how could Death Eaters break into a prison?!"

"Ugly people aren't always right Blaise. Just because Granger is top of our class doesn't mean your runner up."

Everyone roared with laughter except Blaise who scowled at his chocolate frog as if it was the one who had insulted him and he squished it in his palm as it tried to jump out of his grasp. When he caught his breath Draco looked over at Pansy who was smiling brightly at him and he returned her smile knowing full well that was a loaded smile. He knew she fancied him, and maybe it was time for him to fancy her… she was okay looking after all. Not a 10. She was probably a 7 or 7.5. He knew he could pull a lot better but he could at least consider her. It wasn't her fault he was so incredibly handsome.

Suddenly the train lurched as the train screeched to an unexpected stop.

"What are we stopping for?" Pansy asked releasing his arm as the train halted.

"Are we there then?" Crabbe asked leaning forward to peer out the cabin door.

"No you dumbo." Draco said standing and pushing him back and pulling the door open and peering out to see many other people had the same idea.

"Do you see anything Draco?" Pansy asked.

"No," he answered as the lights began to flicker.

"What the…" Blaise said.

Draco quickly closed the door and retook his seat becoming slightly frightened. "Did you hear that?" Blaise asked cupping his hands and looking out the window.

"What was it?" Pansy asked following suit but there was no need for Blaise to respond because they all heard a scraping sound coming from the front of the train.

"What's going on?!" Crabbe asked in a panic as the lights flickered faster and then went out encasing them in darkness.

Draco heard Pansy squeal as she took a hold of his arm. At first he wondered if his fear was what was making his skin prickle but then he realized it was much colder than it had been earlier. Downright freezing.

Then they began hearing noises from the rest of the train and that put them even more on edge. Suddenly their cabin door opened and a hooded figure entered. The cold he had felt earlier suddenly seemed to pierce him internally and he felt all the happiness drain from his life. All he could think about was what if his parents died and he was left all on his own? What if all his friends turned on him and instead of laughing with him laughed at him? What if this cold never went away, what if the rest of his life was like this, cold and alone?

Then the cloaked figure retreated and what little color he had returned to his cheeks. They all breathed deeply but didn't talk because the original cold still stuck to the air and all they could hear from the other cabins was silence.

All was quiet for a long time before whispers returned to the atmosphere and the chill retreated and the lights came on. Only then did they feel it was safe to talk, and talk they did. Draco had heard little about these creatures before but Blaise knew quite a bit and filled them in. They were also receiving reports from the other cabins. The train was a buzz with news and it was hard to break away from people to change into their robes.

They were approaching the school, only a few minutes away when their cabin door opened yet again and a forth year Hufflepuff stuck his head in. "We just heard Harry Potter fainted when the dementors came into his cabin." As soon as he muttered the last word he shut the door and returned from whence he came meaning it was their job to pass it along further even though there were already people running to the front of the train to tell their friends they knew up there.

It was a hard decision to make who would go, especially amongst all the joyous shouts and knee slapping, but Goyle was eventually pushed out into the hall and made to tell everyone else.

Their chatter and plans of oncoming taunts didn't cease with the train and they continued to talk as they departed.

Once on the platform they talked loudly as Crabbe and Goyle pushed them a path to the carriages, wanting to get a good one. Someone sidestepped into him in the commotion and quickly said sorry. He was about to shout a nasty retort mingled with '_Do you know who I am_,' but then he caught sight of the girl who had ran into him. He had never seen a more beautiful girl. Long brown hair. Golden brown eyes like crystallized pineapple. Rosy skin. Thin delicate lips. This wasn't the girl of his dreams, because he had never dreamt of a girl this perfect.

Then she turned and pushed her way in the opposite direction.

"Draco!" Pansy called coming back for him because he had stopped. He hadn't even noticed everyone bustling past him. "What's wrong with you? Come on!" She grabbed his arm and dragged him along. If his head had been clear he would have pushed her off of him, but his thoughts were a few hundred heads away so he freely let her lead him through the crowd to the carriage Crabbe and Goyle had stolen from a few second years.

As they road to the castle everyone was still talking about the dementors and Harry Potter's fainting. Everyone except Draco who was still thinking about that girl. Who was she! He had to find out! He had to get to know her! He had to have her!

They all filled into the castle while he was looking for the mysterious girl. He finally spotted her when they reached the Great Hall. She dawned blue accented robes so she was no Slytherin but that mattered not to him. Everyone else was moving past him again but this was a moment not to be wasted.

"Pansy," Draco said grabbing her arm to stop her.

"Yes Draco," she answered looking at him hopefully.

"Whose that girl?" He asked.

"Who?" She asked in a tone that was almost disgusted.

"Her," he said pointing at the brown haired, doe eyed Ravenclaw girl.

She dramatically crossed her arms before she answered, "Lilly Blossom." She gauged his response and apparently his love struck look did not please her so she went on, "I think her nose is crooked."

"I think her nose is perfect," he said staring after where she had disappeared in the crowd. She scoffed loudly which brought him out of his trance and he quickly corrected, "I said she'll probably be a prefect. She looks very, strict." It was hard to make himself turn and start walking to the Slytherin table but he did.

"You know she smells something terrible," Pansy went on, "no one wants to sit next to her in class. I've heard people say she smells like rotten apples. I think she smells more like rotten fish." For some reason he highly doubted this.


End file.
